“It’ll be fine,” she reassured me as we crossed into the comfy living room. “She knows what she’s doing. They’ve been tangling for years.”
That’s exactly what I was afraid of.
Angelina was already squawking like an angry chicken by the time we tracked them down in the kitchen.
“What are you doing here?” She jabbed a finger in Aisling’s direction and flapped her other arm. “I’ll call the police if you don’t leave right now.”
Aisling remained calm, which I hadn’t been certain was possible, and offered up the friendliest smile in her repertoire. “The sign outside says ‘open house.’ I thought that meant the house was open for people to look at.”
“It’s an open house for potential buyers. It’s not an open house for people like you. You’re not buying a house.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because you live in a townhouse with that poor man you managed to bamboozle into marrying you. I know you bought and aren’t renting because I checked the selling records when I heard the news through the grapevine. By the way, you paid ten grand over market value, so ha, ha.”
I rolled my eyes. Angelina was nothing if not predictable.
“I’m not looking for a house for myself,” Aisling supplied. “Izzy is looking for a house. She and Braden are going to move in together.”
I balked at the statement. “I think it’s a little soon for that.”
“Quiet, you,” Aisling warned, although her gaze was dubious when it locked with mine. “And who are you kidding? You and Braden already practically live together. You just split your time between two houses.”
“One of which is his father’s house,” Zoe noted. “I thought kids were supposed to move out of the house when they hit a certain age. Sami isn’t going to live with us forever, is she? That’s really going to put a crimp in our plans for naked Sundays ... and Thursdays ... and every other Monday.”
I was torn between amusement over Zoe’s worry and annoyance at Aisling’s mouth. I went with the latter. “We don’t ‘practically live together.’ We’re just dating.”
“Oh, right.” Aisling rolled her eyes and turned back to Angelina. “We’re here for altruistic reasons. Izzy wants a house and we’re going to trick Braden into getting it for her.”
Oh, I didn’t like the sound of that one little bit. “Don’t tell her things like that,” I complained. “She’ll spread the gossip around town and then your brother will hear. I don’t want your brother thinking I’m pressuring him.”
“Oh, you are like zero fun,” Aisling complained. “I mean, like absolutely zero.”
“I don’t care why you’re here,” Angelina argued. “This is my open house. That means I can kick people out if I want ... and I don’t like any of you.”
“So much for Aisling handling things,” I muttered under my breath.
Zoe shot me an amused look. “I thought it would be more fun, too. I guess that means we can just skip to the end if there’s not going to be any hair-pulling.”
“I haven’t ruled out hair-pulling,” Aisling countered.
“Me either.” Zoe strode to the spot directly in front of Angelina. “We need information on Adam Grimaldi’s party. I’m assuming you’re not going to willingly give me that information.”
“You assume right,” Angelina sneered.
“I thought so.” Zoe gestured for me to join her. “Peel open her head.”
Angelina’s horrified expression matched the one haunting my heart. “Excuse me?”
“Yeah, excuse me?” Angelina echoed. “Nobody is peeling open my head.”
“You won’t find anything in there anyway,” Aisling offered. “All you’ll find is tumbleweeds and a complete working knowledge of every episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians.”
“That’s a good show,” Angelina hissed.
“I don’t mean to literally peel open her head,” Zoe countered. “You’re heavy on mind magic, though. You can look inside and figure out what’s going on in there. We need to see and you’re the best one to be in charge of the tour.”
“Oh.” I realized what she was asking and felt a bit sheepish. “I can do that.”
“Then do it.” Zoe grabbed Angelina by the shoulders before the other woman could take off. “I don’t want to spend one more second with this woman than is absolutely necessary, so make it snappy.”
“I’ll call the police,” Angelina warned. “I will ... sneak into your houses and replace all your pants with ones that are one size down so you think you’ve gained a bunch of weight.”
“Oh, you’re sick,” Aisling muttered.
“I won’t do it to you,” Angelina shot back. “You’re a fat cow since you had that baby so you don’t need my help to feel bloated.”
I’d seen Aisling pregnant. At the end, she looked like she’d swallowed a beach ball. I’d also seen her get scary skinny after giving birth because Lily was wearing her out. She was nowhere near fat, although I had no doubt that was simply an insult the two women threw at each other on a regular basis even though it seemed unnecessary. Still, it grated.
“Aisling is beautiful,” I groused as I slapped my hands on either side of Angelina’s head, causing the woman’s eyes to go wide. “You’re just jealous because she has a husband and a baby and a father who spoils her rotten. You don’t have any of those things.”
“I don’t ... .” Whatever Angelina was going to say died on her lips as I dove in and pressed the mute button on her mouth. I wasn’t great when it came to finding people’s secrets, but Angelina’s head was an open book ... and a spotty one at that.
“Huh.”
“What is it?” Aisling asked, drifting closer to me. “Do you actually see tumbleweeds in there? I bet you see a bunch of tissue paper, too. She totally stuffs her bra.”
The Angelina presence trapped in her mind protested but no sound came out of the woman.
“No tumbleweeds,” I replied. “There’s a big room dedicated to an older woman here, and she seems mean. She keeps saying horrible things to Angelina. I’ve muted her.”
Aisling frowned. “Is she wearing a blue housecoat?”
“Um ... in some
